The invention relates to a cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to a cleaning apparatus for cleaning emitters of an ionizer.
A glass substrate of a flat panel display is electrically isolated, and gathers static electricity during the manufacturing process of a flat panel display. The static electricity deteriorates characteristics of electric elements disposed on the glass substrate, and decreases reliability of the flat panel display. Thus, in the manufacturing process of flat panel display, an ionizer is provided to increase the amount of charged ions in the air for neutralizing static electricity on the glass substrate.
As shown in FIG. 1, ionizer 1 comprises a plurality of emitters 2 disposed on a side thereof. Emitters are made of silicon, titanium or other materials and tips thereof are cone-shaped. Charged ions are produced around the tips of emitters 2. Ionizer 1 is vertically or horizontally disposed in process equipment, particularly in a passage for transporting glass substrates or a process chamber.
Tips of emitters 2 attract particles in the air and react with chemical gas in the process; thus, ion production efficiency thereof decreases over time. Conventionally, each emitter 2 is cleaned manually with a foam plastic and isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to recover ion production efficiency, which costs additional time and effort, and delays the manufacturing process.